• Instructor has posted course requirements clearly stating that students are required to interact with each other and with the instructor, a designated time frame for the interaction is stated, directions for how to participate in the interaction, standards for the quality or expectations of the interaction are set, and the outcomes of those interactions are noted (i.e., students receive points or a grade for the interaction).
• Instructor has made clear effort to establish a learning community among students in the course through the use of introductions, bios, ice breaker activities, the creation of a social space or café area in the course, promotion of informal communication, appropriate use of humor, and other appropriate efforts to personalize and humanize the course.
• Students are required to respond to discussion questions about the content of each unit or somehow apply what was learned for all learning objectives in the unit. Multiple methods of interaction are available and utilized (i.e., discussion board, e-mail, chat, virtual classroom technology, etc.). The instructor responds to student postings strategically, allowing for extension and deepening of the exploration of content.
• Guidelines provided by the instructor at the start of the course state that the instructor will provide feedback within a designated time frame, a clear description of how the task of providing feedback will be accomplished (how will the student receive the feedback, e-mail, discussion board, etc.), and the specific types of feedback that will be submitted—example: feedback on assignments, on class participation, etc., and the instructor holds to those guidelines.
• Learning activities are developed that support instructor-to-student interaction (instructor participates in discussion with students via a discussion board or virtual chat room), student-to-content interaction (i.e., responses to discussion questions regarding the content), and student-to-student interaction, is promoted and supported, required as part of the course through collaborative projects, group assignments, discussion board, and/or virtual chat assignments.
• Assessment of student learning is established and is given in a time-period that supports the student’s learning (soon after learning activities have taken place).
• Assessments are designed so that they are responsive to the needs of the individual learner (i.e., alternative measures may be taken for students with special needs; assessments are designed to reflect the student population and are varied enough that they meet the needs of diverse learning styles; assessments involve student choice).
• Students’ achievement of stated learning outcomes is documented and provided to the students as feedback on their learning activities and assessments; informal as well as formal feedback is provided by the instructor to the student and encouraged from student to student.
• A rubric is used for all gradable activities that illustrates what achievement will look like and requires both student and instructor input.
• Instructor provides feedback to students based on the rubric along with comments pertinent to strengths and areas of need in student work.
• Instructor offers multiple opportunities for students to give feedback on course content, the technology in use, and uses the feedback to make course adjustments as necessary.

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